CNN is finding itself in the crosshairs of a different sort of storm than the devastating flood waters hitting hard up and down the East Coast. Though it does originate from the hurricane-ravaged state of North Carolina, the ramifications from THIS storm could end up being felt at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, GA.
Mark Robinson is PISSED!!!
He’s going after CNN for their irresponsible reporting.
Who thinks he still wins in NC?😎👇🏻
— SaltyGoat (@SaltyGoat17) September 23, 2024
The catalyst for the storm bearing down on CNN was a sensitively-timed hit piece covering alleged inflammatory remarks made by the Republican candidate for Governor in North Carolina, current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, on porn sites in the early 2000’s. Mark Robinson immediately came out swinging, and true to his word, has not taken the accusations laying down.
Jesse Binnall and his team have launched a full-scale investigation into the allegations leveled against me by CNN. I have offered them complete cooperation and full transparency as they do so.
I fully expect the facts are going to come to light quickly, and I intend to utilize…
— Mark Robinson (@markrobinsonNC) September 26, 2024
As soon as the accusations were made, Robinson responded with the video below on his own social media account:
I wanted to take a minute to address the latest outrageous lies coming from my opponent’s dishonest campaign: #ncgov #ncpol pic.twitter.com/RtteVUiozr
— Mark Robinson (@markrobinsonNC) September 19, 2024
It didn’t take long for word to begin circulating that Robinson wouldn’t be backing down, and would stand his ground against what he says are pure lies originating from his Democratic challenger.
I am in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how; we will leave no stone unturned, and will use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for perpetrating these lies.
I am not backing down, the future of North Carolina depends on it.… pic.twitter.com/Lb9xuvF5Au
— Mark Robinson (@markrobinsonNC) September 23, 2024
That (ironically enough) is a CNN camera crew catching Robinson responding to the accusations several days ago, making clear his intention to fight the last-minute mud slinging that could impact not only his own Gubernatorial race, but potentially the Presidential race in the hotly contested battleground state of North Carolina.
I am in the process of retaining aggressive legal counsel to investigate who did this and how; we will leave no stone unturned, and will use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for perpetrating these lies.
I am not backing down, the future of North Carolina depends on it.… pic.twitter.com/Lb9xuvF5Au
— Mark Robinson (@markrobinsonNC) September 23, 2024
Robinson has thus hired the Binnall Law Group, and specifically Jesse Binnall, who previously represented President Trump, in order to conduct a “full investigation” into the claims made by CNN about Robinson’s alleged past comments on the adult websites cited by CNN. Here is Jesse Beinnall speaking to Fox News about the steps he is about to take to fully and thoroughly investigate the claims made in the CNN report.
The Binnall Law Firm Investigation is in full swing. The facts surrounding Mark and the allegations against him by CNN require IMMEDIATE discovery by all parties involved.
The results of this investigation will give North Carolina voters the answers they deserve. pic.twitter.com/tiaIsYpE7J
— Matt Hurley (@mhurleyofficial) September 26, 2024
According to Fox News reporting which echoes Binnell in the video above, the need for a speedy investigation in light of the impending election is one of Binnell’s top goals, and he says he will achieve that goal.
“Normally, something like this, an investigation, you know, run by the Department of Justice and the FBI would take months or years,” Binnall told Fox News Digital. “We can’t do that in this case because the voters need an answer before the election. And so we are going to move very quickly and still give them a very fulsome report.”
“He absolutely denies saying any of the things that are in the CNN piece,” Binnall said of Robinson. “What my investigation is going to do is we are going to follow the facts. We are going to investigate this strenuously. We are going to leave no stone unturned. We’re going to be very, very aggressive. And the citizens of North Carolina deserve nothing less than a full investigation of this matter, which is what we are going to do.”
“One of the problems with these October surprise hype reporting pieces on someone is it doesn’t give you the full amount of time to fully respond, to show the voters that the allegations were just wrong and that the voters could end up being deceived,” Binnall said. “And so, for that reason, my team understands the importance of moving quickly – very, very quickly and decisively in order to get to the truth, in order to get to a point where we can have full accountability for the true facts of this case.”
“The allegations against me are outright lies, fabricated to distract voters from Josh Stein’s disastrous record,” Robinson said in a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the investigation. “The great people of North Carolina deserve the truth, and I am fully committed to ensuring they get it with complete transparency.”
Not surprisingly, Binnall didn’t lay the blame singularly at CNN’s feet for the allegedly untrue reporting, but according to the Fox News report I previously referenced, he very pointedly laid the blame exactly where Robinson initially pointed — his democratic rivals.
Binnall did not point a finger at CNN, but rather claimed that “there are left-wing actors in this country that have in their playbook time and again to lie and mislead the American people by dropping stories and allegations late in the political cycle and trying to mislead people,” As examples, he cited claims put forth in the media before the 2020 election that the Hunter Biden laptop story might have been disinformation, as well as unproven allegations that Trump colluded with Russia before the 2016 election.
“Wait to see how the facts develop. Wait and see. And judge for yourself, because these are very scandalous allegations,” Binnall said. “I think there’s a reason that they weren’t brought out until very late in the campaign. But we’re going to get to the bottom of it, and so for the voters in North Carolina, I just say to wait and judge the facts for yourself.”
“When someone has nothing to hide, what they want is a full investigation,” Robinson’s attorney added. “And that’s why I think it’s important that Mr. Robinson went right out to us in order to conduct this investigation and then to take appropriate action based on those results.”
While there have been rumors swirling of Republicans turning their backs on Robinson in the wake of the accusations, that information is hard to pin down. In spite of those rumors, the Republican Party of North Carolina published this statement in support of Robinson — which he reposted online.
— NCGOP (@NCGOP) September 20, 2024
In what is likely an unrelated event, Robinson apparently suffered second-degree burns at a campaign event today, as reported by our own Anthony T:
North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson was sent to the hospital after suffering second-degree burns at a campaign event in Mount Airy.
Robinson, who is also running to be North Carolina’s next governor, reportedly burned himself at an automotive event, and no foul play was involved.
Mike Lonergan, Robinson’s communications director, said, “Robinson is in good spirits, appreciates the outpouring of well wishes, and is excited to return to the campaign trail as scheduled first thing tomorrow morning.”
While it is true — you never know what someone may or may not have done in their past (until it’s reported on CNN, of course) — last I checked this is still supposedly a nation that respects the rule of law more than the politically-motivated accusations of political rivals.
I don’t know whether Mark Robinson said the things he reportedly said. I hope he didn’t. But I can’t help share some sentiment with Travis who posted this on social media:
Sorry that I don’t give a damn about what the party that defends dancing naked in front of children has to say about decades old comments allegedly made by Mark Robinson. He’s a great candidate for NC Governor & every North Carolinian should vote for him. pic.twitter.com/WLTNa5rRSu
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_4_Trump) September 23, 2024
As I said — I really hope Mark Robinson didn’t say what CNN has claimed he said. But you can take the statements of a man from twenty years ago, compared with the official policies of his political opponents today regarding real-life perversion perpetuated on real-life victims as official policy of the Democratic Party… and I would be far more likely to believe Mark Robinson has changed his ways over the last twenty years, than I would believe that the Democrat Party has suddenly changed overnight.
The fact is, I KNOW the Democratic Party hasn’t changed it’s stance on these things… because they tell us, openly, every single day!
Is Mark Robinson guilty of saying those things? I doubt it, considering the source, but I don’t really know. But I really hope the Binnall Law Group can do their due diligence in a quick hurry, and bring clarity to these murky accusations — for the voters’ sake.
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